The present invention relates to a paint spray apparatus used to paint vehicles in a paint spray booth. The paint spray apparatus includes a pump driven remotely by a motor through a transmission to provide safe and effective painting of a vehicle.
In the automotive industry, paint is applied to vehicles as they travel along an assembly line. Paint is typically supplied to a nozzle by a pump for application to the vehicle. A single paint spray apparatus may be used to apply a number of different paint colors to different vehicles. For example, a paint spray apparatus may be used to apply one color paint to a vehicle, then used to apply a different paint composition to the next vehicle. The fluid connection and lines between the pump and nozzle must be cleaned out to remove the first paint color before the second paint color can be applied to the vehicle. Thus, it is desirable to minimize the distance between the pump and nozzle, i.e., keep the length of the connection between the pump and nozzle as short as possible.
On the other hand, because paint spray compositions contain volatile solvents, the atmosphere in paint spray booths are considered possibly explosive. Typically, any component which may potentially cause such atmosphere to ignite is typically kept outside the paint spray booth. In particular, electrical components of a paint spray apparatus are located outside the paint spray booth. Thus, the pump motor is typically outside the paint spray booth.